A police officer who shot and killed an unarmed Black man in Columbus, Ohio was recently found guilty of killing him back in 2020. According to WOSU, former Columbus, Ohio police officer Adam Coy was convicted by a jury after he killed Andre Hill, who only had a mobile phone and keys in his possession when Coy shot him in December 2020.
The former cop shot the unarmed man four times in a garage. He told the jury that he fired his weapon because he thought that Hill was holding a silver revolver when he did so.
The Franklin County jury found Adam Coy guilty on charges of murder, reckless homicide, and felonious assault.
Jurors were told by his attorneys and several experts that although Hill had no weapon, the shooting was justified. Jurors did not buy the theory that was presented to them. Coy’s attorneys stated he mistakenly shot him, but it was in good faith and in line with how he
was trained as a police officer to protect his own life. Mark Collins, who represented Coy, told the jury in his closing argument that prosecutors didn’t show why Coy would have shot him if he didn’t fear for his life. A split-second decision led to the tragic mistake.Yet, Assistant Franklin County Prosecutor Anthony Pierson Pierson expressed to jurors that they didn’t have to prove a motive for Coy shooting Hill; their job was to prove that
the former police officer killed the unarmed Black man and wasn’t justified in doing so. They stated that Coy’s actions were objectively unreasonable and outside the scope of duties as a police officer.WHIO TV reported that jurors deliberated for more than two days to reach their verdict. The judge set aside Nov. 25 to schedule the sentencing.
The incident took place on Dec. 22, 2020, after Coy responded to a call of a disturbance. The complaint was for an SUV that was going on and off
repeatedly for several hours. Hill was seen via Coy’s body cam footage coming from a friend’s garage holding up his mobile phone in one hand, but his other hand wasn’t visible. Coy then shot the man. He didn’t receive any aid until about 10 minutes later when other police officers came to Hill, who was on the ground bleeding. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.RELATED CONTENT: Trial Date Set For Baltimore Officer Accused Of Overtime Fraud